As expected, Brad Ausmus announced his retirement yesterday after 18 seasons in the majors and over 15,000 innings logged behind the plate, saying: “I’m ready to stop playing. I just don’t feel like I cant contribute every day.”
Ausmus struggled to stay healthy in two seasons as Russell Martin’s backup with the Dodgers, but was once among the most durable catchers in baseball. He started at least 100 games and caught at least 1,000 innings every season from 1997 to 2006, winning three Gold Glove awards and making his lone All-Star team in 1999.
A former 47th-round pick and Dartmouth graduate, Ausmus earned a reputation for being one of the smartest players in baseball and has long been viewed as a potential manager. He served as the Dodgers’ acting manager Friday and told Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times that he may have managerial aspirations at some point.
Ausmus ranks 13th all time among catchers with 7,101 plate appearances spread over 1,971 games for four different teams, with his best seasons coming for the Tigers in 1999 when he hit .275/.365/.415 while setting career-highs in on-base percentage (.365), slugging percentage (.415), OPS (.779), homers (9), doubles (25), and RBIs (54).

Best catcher I ever saw, from strictly a defensive perspective. Mike Matheny was a close second. Pudge Rodriguez third, although Pudge was much better offensively and therefor much more valuable overall.
I waonder if Ausmus will get into coaching. He seems like he’d be a natural at it.